Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Temporal Assessment of Growing Stock, Biomass and Carbon Stock of Indian Forests

  • Published:
Climatic Change Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The dynamics of terrestrial ecosystems depends on interactions between carbon, nutrient and hydrological cycles. Terrestrial ecosystems retain carbon in live biomass (aboveground and belowground), decomposing organic matter, and soil. Carbon is exchanged naturally between these systems and the atmosphere through photosynthesis, respiration, decomposition, and combustion. Human activities change carbon stock in these pools and exchanges between them and the atmosphere through land-use, land-use change, and forestry.

In the present study we estimated the wood (stem) biomass, growing stock (GS) and carbon stock of Indian forests for 1984 and 1994. The forest area, wood biomass, GS, and carbon stock were 63.86 Mha, 4327.99 Mm3, 2398.19 Mt and 1085.06 Mt respectively in 1984 and with the reduction in forest area, 63.34 Mha, in 1994, wood biomass (2395.12 Mt) and carbon stock (1083.69 Mt) also reduced subsequently. The Conifers, of temperate region, stocked maximum carbon in their woods, 28.88 to 65.21 t C ha−1, followed by Mangrove forests, 28.24 t C ha−1, Dipterocarp forests, 28.00 t C ha−1, and Shorea robusta forests, 24.07 t C ha−1. Boswellia serrata, with 0.22 Mha forest area, stocked only 3.91 t C ha−1. To have an idea of rate of carbon loss the negative changes (loss of forest area) in forest area occurred during 1984–1994 (10yrs) and 1991–1994 (4yrs) were also estimated. In India, land-use changes and fuelwood requirements are the main cause of negative change. Total 24.75 Mt C was lost during 1984–1994 and 21.35 Mt C during 1991–94 at a rate of 2.48 Mt C yr−1 and 5.35 Mt C yr−1 respectively. While in other parts of India negative change is due to multiple reasons like fuelwood, extraction of non-wood forest products (NWFPs), illicit felling etc., but in the northeastern region of the country shifting cultivation is the only reason for deforestation. Decrease in forest area due to shifting cultivation accounts for 23.0% of the total deforestation in India, with an annual loss of 0.93 Mt C yr−1.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

A & N Islands:

Andaman and Nicobar Islands

AP:

Andhra Pradesh

D & D:

Daman and Due

D & N Haveli:

Dadar and Nagar Haveli

GS:

Growing stock

HP:

Himachal Pradesh

J & K:

Jammu and Kashmir

Mha:

Million hectare

Mm3 :

Million cubic meter (106)

MP:

Madhya Pradesh

Mt:

Million tones (106)

Mt C yr−1 :

Million tones carbon per year

Pg:

Peta gram (1015)

t C ha−1 :

tones carbon per hectare

UP:

Uttar Pradesh

References

  • Achard, F., Eva, H. D., Stidig, H. J., Mayaux, P., Gallego, J., Richards, T., and Malingreau, J. P.: 2002, ‘Determination of deforestation rates of the world'2 humid tropical forests’, Science 297, 999–1002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alexandrov, G. A., Yamagata, Y., and Oikawa, T.: 1999, ‘Towards a model for projecting net ecosystem production of the world forests’, Ecol. Model 123, 183–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alexeyev, V., Birdsey, R. Stakanov, V., and Korotkov, I.: 1995, ‘Carbon in vegetation of russian forests: methods to estimate storage and geographical distribution’, Water Air Soil Pollut. 82, 271–282.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Atjay, G. L., Ketner, P., and Davigneaud, P.: 1979, ‘Terristrial primary production and phytomass’, in B. Bolin, E. T. Degens, S. Kempe, and P. Ketner (eds.), The Global Carbon Cycle. Scope 13, John Wiley and Sons, New York.

  • Bahuguna, V. K.: 2000, ‘Forest in the economy of the rural poor: An estimation of the dependency level’, Ambio 29, 126–129.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bolin, B. and Sukumar, R.: 2000, ‘Global Perspective’, in Watson, R. T., Noble, I. R., Bolin, B., Ravindranath, N. H., Verardo, D. J., and Dokken, D. J. (eds.), Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry: Special Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climatic Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, S. and Lugo, A. E.: 1982, ‘The storage and production of organic matter in tropical forests and their role in the global carbon cycle’, Biotropica 14(3), 161–187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, S. and Lugo, A. E.: 1984, ‘Biomass of tropical forests: A new estimate based on forest volumes’, Science 223, 1290–1292.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, S. and Lugo, A. E.: 1991, ‘Biomass of tropical forests of south and south east asia’, Can. J. For. Res. 21, 111–117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, S. L., Schroeder, P., and Kern, J. S.: 1999, ‘Spatial distribution of biomass in forests of the eastern USA’, For. Ecol. Manage. 123, 81–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carvallo, J. A. Jr., Hinduri, N., Araujo, T. M., and Santos, J. C.: 1998, ‘Combustion completeness in a rainforest clearing experiment in Manaus, Brazil’, Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmosphere 103, 13195–13199.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chhabra, A., Parila, S., and Dadhwal, V. K.: 2002, ‘Growing stock based forest biomass estimate of India’, Biomass and Bioenergy 22, 187–194.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chiba, Y.: 1998, ‘Simulation of CO2 Budget and ecological implications of sugi (Cryptomeria japonica) man-made forests in Japan’, Ecol. Model 111, 269–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, W. B., Harmon, M. E., Wallin, D. O., and Fiorella, M.: 1996, ‘Two decades of carbon flux from forests of the pacific northwest’, BioScience 46, 836–844.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dadhwal, V. K. and Nayak, S. R.: 1993, ‘A preliminary estimate of biogeochemical cycle of carbon for India’, Science and Culture 59(1/2), 9–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Defries, R. S., Houghton, R. A., Hansen, M. S., Field, C. B., Skole, D., and Townshend, J.: 2002, ‘Carbon emission from tropical deforestation and regrowth based on satellite observation for the 1980s and 1990s’, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99, 14256–14261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Detwiler, R. P. and Hall, C. A.: 1988, ‘Tropical forest and the global cycles’, Science 239, 42–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dixon, R. K., Brown, S., Houghton, R. A., Soloman, A. M., and Trexler, M. C.: 1994, Carbon pools and flux of global forest ecosystems’, Science 263, 185–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fang, J. Y., Chen, A. P., Peng, C. H., Zhao, S. Q., and Ci, I. J.: 2001, ‘Changes in forest biomass carbon storage in China between 1949 and 1998’, Science 292, 2320–2322.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flint, E. P. and Richards, J. F.: 1991, ‘Historical analysis of changes in land use and carbon stock of vegetation in South Esat Asia’, Can. J. For. Res. 21, 91–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forest Survey of India (FSI): 1988, The State of Forest Report 1987, Dehradun, India.

  • Forest Survey of India (FSI): 1989, The State of Forest Report, Dehradun, India.

  • Forest Survey of India (FSI): 1993, The State of Forest Report, Dehradun, India.

  • Forest Survey of India (FSI): 1995, The State of Forest Report, Dehradun, India.

  • Forest Survey of India (FSI): 1996, Fuel Wood, Timber and Fodder from Forest of India, Dehradun, India.

  • Forest Survey of India (FSI): 1997, The State of Forest Report, Dehradun, India.

  • Grandstaff, T. B.: 1980, ‘Shifting cultivation in Northern Thailand: Possibilities for development’, in Anonymous (eds.), Resource System Theory and Methodology Series, No. 3, United Nation University Press, Tokyo.

  • Houghton, R. A., Boone, R. D., Fruci, J. R., Hobbie, J. E., Melillo, J. M., Palm, C. A., Peterson, B. J., Shaver, G. R., and Woodwell, G. M.: 1987, ‘The flux of carbon from terrestrial ecosystems to the atmosphere in 1980 due to change in land use: Geograpgic distribution of the global flux, Tellus 39b, 122–139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Houghton, R. A., Boone, R. D., Melillo, J. M., Palm, C. A., Woodwell, G. M., Myers, N., Moore, B., and Skole, D. L.: 1985, ‘Net Flux of CO2 from tropical forests in 1980’, Nature 316, 617–620.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Houghton, R. A.: 1991, ‘Release of Carbon to the atmosphere dorm degradation of forest in Tropical Asia’, Can. J. For. Res. 21, 132–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Houghton, R. A.: 1996, ‘Land-use changes and terrestrial carbon: The temporal record’, in M. J. Apps and D. T. Price (eds.), Forest Ecosystems, Forest Management and the Global Carbon Cycle, NATO ASI Series, Vol I., Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg.

  • Isaev, A., Korovin, G., Zamolodehikov, D., Utkin, A., and Pryaznikov, A.: 1995, ‘Carbon stock and deposition in phytomass of the Russian Forests’, Water Air Soil Pollut. 82, 247–256.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kauppi, P. E. Mielikainen, K. and Kuusela, K.: 1992, ‘Biomass and carbon budget of european forests, 1971 to 1990’, Science 256, 70–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaushal, D. S.: 1993, The New Rashtriya Atlas, Indian Book Depot, New Delhi, India.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keeling, C. D. and Whoof, T. P.: 1998, ‘Atmospheric CO2 records from sites in the SIO air sampling network’, in Trends: A Compendium of Data on Global Change Carbon Dixode. Information Analysis Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN.

  • Krankina, O. N., Harmon, M. E., and Winjum, J. K.: 1996, Carbon storage and sequestration in the Russian Forest Sector’, Ambio 25, 284–288.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lal, M. and Singh, R.: 2000, ‘Carbon sequestration potential of Indian forests’, Environment Monitoring and Assessment 60, 315–327.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laurance, W. F., Ferreria, L. V., Rankin De Merona, J. M., and Laurance, S. G.: 1998, ‘Rain forest fragmentation and the dynamics of amazonian tree communities’, Ecology 79, 2032–2040.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laurance, W. F., Ferreria, L. V., Rankin De Merona, J. M., Laurance, S. G., Hutchings, R. W., and Lovejoy, T. E.: 1997, ‘Biomass collapse in amazonian forest fragments’, Science 278, 1117–1118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malhi, Y., Baldocchi, D. D., and Jarvis, P. G.: 1999, ‘The carbon balance of tropical, temperate and boral forests’, Plant, Cell and Environment 22, 712–740.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Melillo, J. M., Hall, D. O., and Agren, G. I.: 1996, ‘Executive summary’, in A. I. Breymeyer, D. O. Hall, J. M. Melillo, and G. I. Agren (eds.), Global Changes: Effects on Coniferous Forests & Grasslands, John Willey & Sons Pub., NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • NCAER: 1985, Domestic Fuel Survey with Special Reference to Kerosene, National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER), New Delhi.

  • Negi, J. D. S., Manhas, R. K., and Chauhan, P. S.: 2003, ‘Carbon allocation in different components of some tree species of India: A new approach for carbon estimation’, Current Science 85(11), 101–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Negi, J. D. S., Shah, D., Kukreti, P., Negi, M., Basera, H.S, Kamboj, S. K., and Chauhan, P. S.: 2002, ‘An ecological assessment of sal mortality in Uttaranchal’, Annals of Forestry 10(2), 193–203.

    Google Scholar 

  • Posey, D. A.: 1993, ‘Indigenous knowledge in the conservation and use of world forests’, in K. Ramakrishna and G. M. Woodwell (eds.), World Forests for the Future: Their Use and Conservation, Binghamton, Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rajput, S. S., Shukla, N. K., Gupta, V. K., and Jain, J. D.: 1996, ‘Timber Mechanics: Strength Classification and Grading of Timber’, ICFRE-Publication-38, New Forest, Dehradun.

  • Ramakrishnan, P. S., Toky, O. P., Mishra, B. K., and Saxena, K. G.: 1981, ‘Slash and Burn Agriculture In North-eastern India’, in H. A. Mooney, T. M. Bonnicksen, N. L. Christensen, J. E. Lotan, and W. A. Reiners (eds.), Fire Regimes and Ecosystem Properties, USDA, Forest Service General Technical Report WO-26, Honolulu, Hawaii.

  • Ramakrishnan, P. S. and Toky, O. P.: 1981, ‘Soil nutrient status in hill agro-ecosystems and recovery pattern after slash and burn agriculture (jhum) in north-eastern India’, Plant Soil 60, 41–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ranjan, R. and Upadhyay, V. P.: 2002, ‘Ecological problems due to shifting cultivation’, Current Science 77(10), 1246–1249.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ravindranath, N. H. and Hall, D. O.: 1995, Biomass, Energy and Environment – A Developing Country Perspective from India, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ravindranath, N. H., Somashekhar, B. S. and Gadgil, M.: 1997, ‘Carbon flows in Indian forests’, Climatic Change 35, 297–320.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruthenberg, H.: 1980, Farming Systems in the Tropics, Oxford University Press, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sangal, P. M.: 1989, ‘A suggested classification of forest fires in India by types and causes’, Paper presented at the National Seminar on Forest Fire Fighting, Kulamaru (Kerala).

  • Saxena, A., Jha, M. N. and Rawat, J. K.: 2003, ‘Forests as carbon sink – The Indian scenario’, Indian Forester 129(7), 807–814.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schimel, D. S.: 1995, ‘Terrestrial ecosystems and the carbon cycle’, Global Change Biology 1, 77–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singh, J. S. and Singh, S. P.: 1992, Forests of Himalaya, Gyanodaya Prakashan, Nainital, India.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh, J. S., Tiwari, A. K., and Saxena, A. K.: 1985, ‘Himalayan forests: A net source of carbon to the atmosphere’, Environment Conservation 12, 67–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singh, K. D. and Marzoli, A.: 1995, ‘Deforestation Trends in the Tropics: A Time Series Analysis’, Paper presented at WWF Conference on the Potential Impacts of Climate Change on Tropical Forests, Puerto Rico.

  • Skole, D. L. and Tucker, C. J.: 1993, ‘Tropical deforestation and habitat fragmentation in the Amazon satellite data from 178 to 1998’, Science 260, 1905–1910.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spencer, J. E.: 1966, Shifting Cultivation in Southeast Asia, California University Press, Berkeley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, D. P., Koerper, G. J., Harmon, M. E., and Lee, J. J.: 1995, ‘A carbon budget for forests of the conterminous united states’, Ecol. Appl. 5, 421–436.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forest Ecology and Environment Division, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, 248 006, Uttaranchal, India

    R. K. Manhas, J. D. S. Negi & P. S. Chauhan

  2. Forest Survey of India, Dehradun, 248 001, Uttaranchal, India

    Rajesh Kumar

Authors
  1. R. K. Manhas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. J. D. S. Negi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Rajesh Kumar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. P. S. Chauhan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. K. Manhas.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Manhas, R.K., Negi, J.D.S., Kumar, R. et al. Temporal Assessment of Growing Stock, Biomass and Carbon Stock of Indian Forests. Climatic Change 74, 191–221 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-005-9011-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-005-9011-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation